


JWP 2020 #26: X, Z, and Q

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gen, Holmes' Index, Prompt Fic, References to undocumented cases
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25542034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: Some letters in my Index have far more entries than others.  Written for JWP #26 over on Watson's Woes.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: Watson's Woes JWP Collection: 2020





	JWP 2020 #26: X, Z, and Q

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : Holmes POV. More of a snippet than anything else. References to various crimes. And written in a huge rush. You have been warned.
> 
>  **Prompt** : Good Old Index: Holmes' index is full of suggestive entries, including but not limited to Victor Lynch, the forger, a venomous lizard or gila, and Vittoria, the circus belle. Take one as a starting point, or make up your own!

Some letters in my Index have far more entries than others. The nature of the English language is such that the letters Z, X, and Q are rare, and so the entries under those letters are scant when compared to the vast collections under other letters, such as M. But they are not devoid, nor are those entries without interest. There is the Xylophone, a perfectly innocuous instrument rendered most horrible indeed by Zabielski, the mass murderer who used one bone from each of his victims as one of the bars. There is the Zebra, the African animal that cannot be trained as a mount. The Schaffer Circus painted their mules with black and white stripes to fool their audiences.

Some entries are more personal than others. Under Q there is quinine, which Watson used to treat malaria in India and Afghanistan. Fortunately for both my client and to a lesser degree, myself, Watson not only knew its beneficial effects, but how to recognize the symptoms of quinine poisoning.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 26, 2020.


End file.
